Terror In The Sky

The best book trailer that I've seen is the one for Falling (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster), a thriller by T.J. Newman. It's like watching a mini movie.

I first saw it at a Target store in Harlem on their giant screen near the electronics department. I bought the book the same day I saw the trailer. The trailer didn't influence me because I was planning to buy the book anyway.

I knew I wanted to read it when I read an article about the author, a former flight attendant, and her "what if" scenario on Los Angeles magazine's website. "What would a pilot do," asked the article, "if someone took his family hostage and demanded he crash the plane to save them?"

I wanted to find out and so far (at this writing, I am 85 pages from the end), the book is a real roller coaster ride, or maybe I should say, a turbulent ride, living up to the media hype.

I want to finish it before the movie version comes out which will probably be a year or a year and a half from now. It will be interesting to see how close the movie follows the book.

I read the brief review of Falling in the New York Times Book Review (July 18, 2021) in which the reviewer points to the book's "over-the-topness." But that's why people read thrillers in the first place. These books keep the reader on the edge of their seat, biting their fingernails as a result of their "over-the-topness." The movie will probably be more so.

One thing is for sure, Falling is not a book you'd want to read while flying; it's too scary.